


The Lost Triad

by TheRoseDuelist



Series: The Lost Triad Saga [5]
Category: Across the Void (Visual Novel), Endless Summer (Visual Novel)
Genre: Adventure, Angst, Friendship, Saving the World
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-01
Updated: 2019-12-13
Packaged: 2020-10-05 03:42:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20482274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheRoseDuelist/pseuds/TheRoseDuelist
Summary: Natalie returned to Vaanu and left Earth in order to repair the fractures in time and space. Cassandra disappeared after winning the battle against Silas Prescott. Opal sacrificed herself to save her galaxy from the Void. While their family and friends struggle to resume their lives in the wake of the tragedy, these three souls collide to save the universe once more, and maybe, just maybe, each finds a way home.





	1. Arrival

The last thing she remembered was driving the Atlas into the Sanctum. The explosion was instantaneous and the burning fire ripping apart her body only momentary.**  
**

Then silence. Darkness.

Cold.

Then…

Her violet eyes fluttered open. Endless black sky dotted with stars greeted her. Small pebbles underneath her pricked her spine. Wincing, she moved to sit up on her elbows. A groan escaped her as her muscles protested at the movement. 

Goosebumps tickled the back of her neck as she swept her gaze across the landscape. Purple crystals clustered together in various spots; blue pockets of natural gas — she assumed it was natural gas — burst upwards from the dark pink dirt. It was silent save for the breeze that whistled past her ear.

She was alone. The only living being from what she could see. Where was she? 

“Hello?” She called out. Struggling, she pushed herself to her feet, her thighs burning from the exertion. The pain expanded through her cells, a blaze catching like a wildfire. Clenching her jaw, she squeezed her eyes shut and waited for it to evaporate. Seconds passed and finally, the pain receded, leaving an ache in its wake.

The silence roared in her ears. A chill rippled up and down her back and her stomach dropped. Panic set in, nerves jolting with adrenaline underneath her blood. 

Alone. She was alone.

No, no-no. What had her training taught her? Don’t let emotions get in the way. Level head meant smart decisions.

She took a deep breath in and out, her lungs expanding and contracting. Surely there would be someone around to explain where she was. What had...happened to her.

“Is anyone here?” She shouted. Running a hand through her short, lavender hair, the woman sighed, steeling herself as she waited.

Only silence returned her call.

“Shit.”

Slowly, she limped forward, her body resisting every step of the way. But she was determined. Pain meant nothing to her. She’d already faced death. Nothing more could scare her. At least, she hoped.

A few steps turned into many, and minutes turned into an hour. Yet the landscape did not change, nor did her aloneness. She had ceased calling out but remained hopeful that someone would cross her path. Any sort of lifeform. Because somehow, she was brought here, propelled from her death. It could only be that someone had taken it upon themselves to save her in her final moments.

Assuming she was actually alive and not in a state of purgatory.

As the landscape neared its edge, the woman dragged herself to the cliffside. Staring up at the sky, she murmured, “What do I do now?”

“You live.”

She whipped around to see another young woman walking towards her. The newcomer wore a red tank top and blue jean shorts. Her skin was tan and her brown hair pulled into a ponytail. But she lacked any other familiar characteristics: no cyber lines, no gems, no lightning streaks, no flowers and vines — nothing that resembled the people of her galaxy. In a way, she was...plain.

“Who are you? Where am I?”

“Hello, Opal Elara. Welcome to Prisallia.”


	2. Brand New World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the aftermath of her battle with Silas, Cassandra attempts to figure out where she has landed.

“Marci, can you scan for life forms?” Cassandra asked, gazing at the barren landscape in front of her. Her pulse quickened and goosebumps prickled on the back of her neck as the silence reverberated in her ears.

Where was she? Certainly not Earth.

The environment was shades of pink and purple: rolling hills of lavender to her right and left, rosy dirt littered with silver pebbles crunched under her boots, and large violet and blush quartz-shaped crystals sprouted from the barren earth. 

And that was it. No green grass. No blue water. No yellow sun. Nothing that resembled Earth at all.

Cassandra’s throat began to close. Her breathing escalated. Became shallower.

How long ago had she arrived? How long ago was her battle with Silas? Minutes? Hours? Days?

Years?

She had no idea. Time was lost to her. 

Her chest tightened. Between the unknowns of time and location, Cassandra felt herself straining to make sense of the situation. Something, anything that could root her. How could she begin to tell how long she’d been gone? Or rather how long she had been on this planet? And was she still in the Milky Way galaxy? Or somewhere farther?

A chill rand down her spine as a small voice whispered in the back of her head. She tried not to hear it, what it said, but she already knew the question it asked 

What if she was in another dimension?

Her heart skipped a beat, then rocketed up and down in her ribcage. She had been born in another dimension. Maybe the explosion had hurtled her across time and space. To her actual home.

Home.

No. Home was Earth. This was foreign. This was not home. Home was with Poppy and Dax. Kenji and Eva. Mom and Grayson…

Grayson.

Everything slammed to a stop within her. 

She’d left him behind. He had no idea that she was Enchantress. But he would figure it out. Once she was missing, he would realize her true identity. And she wouldn’t be there to explain to him everything that had happened and why…

God, would he hate her? 

She had lied to him. That would be how he remembered her. Not the times they spent together, but that she had kept her largest secret from him.

That wasn’t true. That wasn’t her largest secret.

A knife twisted in her gut. She had been too afraid to tell him during their last night together that she was falling for him. The words had blistered in her chest, feverish to escape and be free in the air between them. But she had pushed them down and caged them. She’d wanted to spare him pain.

Had she done the opposite?

Tears sprung to her eyes. She wanted to be with him. She wanted to comfort him. Grayson had lost his father. And her. He didn’t know she was alive. And possibly he never would.

“Cassandra, your stress levels are too high! You need to calm down!” Marci pleaded.

The frantic voice jolted Cassandra back to the present. She was gasping, her lungs burning. Tears streamed down her cheeks. She was hyperventilating.

Tears warmed her eyes, though she refused them passage. Keeping the secret from Grayson had been one of the hardest things she had ever done, and now the possibility of never seeing him again combined with the fact that she wanted to tell him she loved him...

“Just take a deep breathe, okay? It’s all going to be fine.”

Squeezing her eyes shut, Cassandra pushed away any thought of Grayson. If she was going to survive, she couldn’t think about him. It would just break her down. And she had to be strong now.

Forcing a deep breath, Cassandra felt her chest expand and contract, the fear slowly evaporating from her muscles.

“That’s great. You’re doing great.” Marci soothed.

After a few breaths, Cassandra wiped her eyes, centering herself. There was no use thinking about what she left behind. She had no idea how to get home and that was her priority, not dwelling on the fact that she had been tossed so far from Earth.

“Sorry about that, Marci. What do we got?” Cassandra said with a final sniffle.

“I’m sorry, Cassandra. I know this is scary, but I just want to help you.”

Cassandra blinked rapidly, pushing her blonde hair out of her face, brushing away the sweat that had begun to accumulate on her forehead. “Don’t worry, I appreciate it. I just needed a minute.”

“I get it. So...I’ve identified that these prism crystals are basically the same on a molecular level to you.”

“So we are in another dimension.”

Two emotions blossomed inside of Cassandra and immediately went to war: hope and despair. Maybe she could find her birth parents. They could explain what she was and how they had sent her to Earth. And why. But how could she cross dimensions and get back to Earth? Was it even possible?

The anguish began to win, threatening to overtake her, but she refused to give in and shoved it down. She would compartmentalize.

“So far I haven’t detected any life forms, but why don’t we walk around?” Marci said.

“That sounds as good as anything.” 

Studying the scene, Cassandra couldn’t find a reason to choose one path over another and walked straight ahead. Her boots crushed the sandy dirt, and a wind bristled by her, catching in her blonde hair. 

Nothing changed though as she walked onward. Just the same crystals, the same hills for what appeared to be miles and miles.

“If we can get higher, we might be able to see something?” Marci suggested.

Nodding, Cassandra readied to fly, but her muscles protested. She was too tired after her fight.

“I think I’m just going to stay on the ground for now.” 

“No problem. Why don’t you climb the hill on your left?”

Cassandra followed Marci’s directions and hiked up the slope of the hill. As she climbed, she could hear the murmuring of voices at the top.

Her heart jumped and she pushed herself into a jog although her legs ached. If there was someone who could answer her questions, she couldn’t let them get away. As she reached the crest of the hill, she saw two women in conversation.

The one on the left – she wore a red tank top and jean shorts — turned to look at her. The woman on the right followed her gaze to Cassandra. She had short purple hair and bright eyes. But what was most striking were the lines of light — almost like electric currents on a computer motherboard — that ran through her body. Cassandra has never seen anything like it before.

Then the woman in the tank top smiled. “Welcome, Cassandra. We’ve been waiting.”


	3. Revelations

“How do you know my name?”**  
**

Cassandra took a few steps forward and stopped, eyeing both women with caution. Neither appeared to be armed, but that didn’t mean they weren’t dangerous. And the woman in the tank top already knew her name. Cassandra was certain they had never met before.

The woman with the short purple hair watched the scene play out, while the woman in the tank top simply smiled at her. It wasn’t an unsettling smile. Rather, it was warm and welcoming. It should’ve put Cassandra on her guard, but something inside her, some gut feeling told her that this woman was genuine in her greeting. It put her at ease.

“I know you both have many questions. If you will come with me, I will answer them.” The woman turned and walked away from the cliffside, heading into the crystalline landscape.

Cassandra glanced at the purple-haired woman, who shrugged. If she didn’t have any reservations about the invitation, maybe Cassandra didn’t need to either. 

“You should talk to her, Cassandra. Maybe she can tell you where this is.” Marci suggested from the headset.

Right. She needed to gather as much information as possible. That was the only way she could even begin to formulate a plan to get home.

The two fell into step together, a few paces behind the woman in the red tank top.

“Do you know where we are?” Cassandra asked. 

“She said Prisallia.”

Cassandra sighed. It wasn’t a name she’d ever heard. Not sure why she’d expected to.

“I’m glad I’m not the only confused one,” the woman grinned at her congenially. 

“When did you get here?” 

“Not that long ago. I walked for a bit though until I found...her.” She gestured at their leader, who still walked a few paces in front of them, heading towards an unknown destination.

“Do you know who she is?” Cassandra lowered her voice.

The woman shook her head. “But she knew who I was. Just like you.”

Silence fell between them. Cassandra turned her gaze outward, observing how the flat plains began to give way to rolling hills and she could see mountains close to the horizon. Still, everything was covered in lavender dirt and patches of translucent and pink crystals. It was beautiful but also desolate. Lonely even.

“I’m Opal.”

Cassandra turned back to see the woman offer her hand. Cassandra took it and shook.

“Cassandra.”

“You don’t have any Cyber lines.” Opal gestured to the electric lines of color running up and down her cheeks.

Cassandra shook her head. “I’ve never seen that before. Where I come from, people don’t have those features.”

“What about gems?”

“Like on your face?” 

“Your tone definitely tells me that’s a no,” Opal laughed.

Cassandra laughed as well. It felt good to laugh, especially considering her situation. A foreign planet. A foreign dimension. Foreign company. It was all strange. Surreal. 

Frightening.

She felt lucky that she wasn’t alone anymore. Opal was beside her, also trying to make the best of a nebulous situation. They were lost together. It sounded sad, but in truth, it was encouraging.

They walked in silence for a half-hour more, watching the scenery shift and change around them. Clusters of blue grass and grey trees appeared, populating the once bleak countryside. 

Cassandra’s thoughts wandered back to Northbridge, back to the people she left behind. Her heartstrings sang. She missed them desperately. And she could feel the tidal wave of emotion crest within her. But she stamped it down; pushed the thoughts away. She couldn’t focus on that. She needed to understand where she was before considering how to get home. 

The woman led them into a valley, surrounded by two towering hills covered in a forest of grey trees and purple and pink crystals. The color scheme reminded Cassandra of the inside of a geode, with its gradient of colors. It reminded her of...Earth.

Nearing the center of the valley, the woman led them to a small silver pond, its surface opaque, not giving away any indication of what lay beneath. The woman gestured for the two to sit at the edge, although she remained standing. Cassandra and Opal exchanged a glance, questioning, but silently agreed and did as they were told. 

The woman closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She began whispering indecipherable words. The air warmed. Bright tiny white orbs of light appeared, floating around the woman. Her body began to glow, a silver halo surrounding her figure. Her voice grew louder, chanting the words. She stopped and leaned back, holding her arms out. A ghostly figure emerged from her body. It was blue, translucent, humanoid in shape. It gazed at Opal and Cassandra, then dove into the pool and disappeared beneath the surface, ripples emanating from its entry point.

Cassandra’s jaw dropped.

The woman opened her eyes. She coughed, wincing, and slowly lowered herself to the ground to sit.

“What just happened?” Opal gawked.

“Sorry, just...give me a second,” the woman responded, blinking. Her voice had changed, no longer the deep tone she had previously used, but instead closer to Cassandra and Opal’s range. “Sorry, it’s been a little while since I’ve been real…” She apologized again.

That was strange.

“Real?” Cassandra asked.

“And what was that that flew out of you?” Opal gestured at the pool.

“Well, that was me. It’s a bit complicated,” she sighed, rubbing her temples. 

“Complicated is an understatement.” 

“That it is.” She smiled. “But I’ll explain everything now.”

She picked one of the floating lights out of the air and crunched it in her hand. When she opened her hand, the orb had turned black. She whispered a word and it expanded, moving over them and creating a black dome that covered the three of them completely. 

It was as dark as night, blocking out any sight of the landscape or the sky above. A tremor of discomfort ran up Cassandra’s spine. It was a small space...too small.

Images began to swim across the top of the dome. The blue being. Pink and purple crystals. Shards of crystals sailing through the vacuum of space. A galaxy of planets unrecognizable to Cassandra. And finally...Earth. 

The image of the blue being shifted into focus.

“This is Vaanu. We are on Prisallia, where Vaanu’s people live. The planet of Threwyn is Vaanu’s people’s homeworld, and Prisallia is a parallel dimension’s version of Threwyn.” The woman explained. “And in a way, Threwyn is where each of you originated.”

“What?!” Both Cassandra and Opal exclaimed.

An image of a pink and purple planet took the place of Vaanu.

“Threwyn was destroyed by a black hole thousands of years ago. In the process of that destruction, the planet was hit by a meteor before it was wiped out.” 

A meteor streaked towards the planet and crashed into it. Fires consumed the planet. Shards of purple crystals exploded from the surface into space. They soared into the black hole. The shards burst from the rift and comingled with an array of rainbow-colored particles.

“Threwyn was in a parallel dimension to your galaxy, Opal. The crystal shards combined with particles from the black hole became the radioactive substance called astradust. Astradust covered the planets of your galaxy. Some shriveled and died, while others thrived. But the inhabitants of those who were exposed to the astradust developed various features, like the gems of the Dynamas, or the lightning fissures in the skin of Romlys.” 

“I remember this. Barlow told me.” Opal’s gaze narrowed. “It’s what created the Void.”

The woman nodded, then turned her attention to Cassandra.

“Cassandra, your parents’ ancestors lived on one of these planets before that cataclysm. Right before it happened, they evacuated their planet, which was destroyed by the radiation.”

Her parents’ ancestors...she could hardly believe what she was hearing.

“Do you know where they went?” Cassandra urged, unable to keep the desperation from her voice.

“No.” The woman shook her head. “All I can say is that they left this galaxy, perhaps this dimension as well.”

A rock of disappointment dropped into her stomach. 

“That doesn’t explain how I got here. I died.” Opal challenged then frowned. “Or at least, I thought I died…”

Cassandra glanced at her, wide-eyed. Opal shrugged again. Cassandra didn’t know how her companion was so unfazed.

“On Vaanu’s return from Earth, they passed through your galaxy. Through the battlefield above Cyber. Vaanu witnessed your sacrifice and felt your power and knew they could save you.”

“What power?”

“Your strength of will. Your desire to help others. You deserved to live.”

This time, Opal stared, speechless. 

The woman was unperturbed, now turning her attention to Cassandra.

“Cassandra, you were brought here through a rift between dimensions caused by a large explosion of crystal energy.”

The images shifted to the battle above Northbridge, her clash with Silas and her subsequent choice to fly the imploding man above Earth to save the planet.

“It brought you to the resonant energy of that crystal, which was Prisallia. The closest planet to Earth where these crystals grow.” The woman explained.

“Wait. Vaanu was on Earth?” Cassandra shook her head. It was hard to wrap her mind around everything that was being said.

“Yes. After Threwyn was destroyed, Vaanu was thrown through space and time, and landed on the island of La Huerta.”

La Huerta...that sounded familiar.

“Vaanu was stuck in a space-time dimensional rift on La Huerta. An eternal time loop. But a group of humans freed Vaanu, which is how Vaanu left to reconnect with their people.” The woman murmured, her eyes unfocusing, her thoughts floating away.

A light bulb clicked on in Cassandra’s mind. The La Huerta Eleven. She’d heard of them, even watched the Congressional Hearings on TV. Everett Rourke had been a friend of Silas’, convicted of crimes against humanity, torture, and illegal weapon creation amongst other things. Silas had held him in high regard, even after he was sentenced to jail for life.

“What happened on La Huerta is hard to put into words. If you’ll let me, I can show you.” The woman tilted her head, observing them with her large, dark eyes.

“You’re going to touch our minds?” Opal asked warily.

“If you don’t want me to, I can try and explain.”

“No...it’s fine. Just…” Opal trailed off, averting her gaze.

Cassandra reached out and took Opal’s hand. The woman looked up at her, taken aback. She was surprised too by her gesture. They hadn’t known each other but for a few hours. Nonetheless, she already felt a kinship with Opal.

Hesitating, Opal nodded.

The other woman crawled over to them and gently pressed her palms against their foreheads. Cassandra shut her eyes, feeling a strange sensation bloom at the center of her forehead.

A flood of memories flashed into her mind. A plane crash. An empty hotel. The woman and a group of young adults wandering through the island. A young woman attacking a giant crab. The group caged in a facility. A clan of blue-skinned people. A battle against an enormous sea creature.

The images began speeding through her mind, loaded with information and emotion. Happiness, sadness, hope, despair, anguish, anger, and...love.

A handfasting ceremony between the woman and a man with dirty blonde hair. Then the woman and her friends standing on a rooftop with a sparkling crystal. Everett Rourke glaring down at them in a robotic machine. The woman kissing the man goodbye and touching the crystal. Vaanu rising from the ground and leaving Earth.

The woman removed her hands from their foreheads. Cassandra blinked. She felt dizzy. A tiny bit nauseous. The whirlwind of feelings still stormed within her. However, she understood the woman’s journey, what had befallen her and her companions. What that endless summer was and meant to them.

“I don’t even know what to say.” Cassandra murmured. “That must’ve been so difficult for you to leave them behind.”

“It was.” She breathed, her shoulders sagging slightly. Then she straightened and smiled. “I’m Natalie, and as you now know, I am a part of Vaanu.”

The dome dissipated, giving way to the sky once more. Cassandra looked up. She’d forgotten her claustrophobia in the midst of the discussion. But seeing the open sky still made her feel better.

“So why did you save us?” Opal asked.

“We need your help. My — Vaanu’s — people have been poisoned. All of them are in stasis chambers around this planet.”

“How were they poisoned?”

“A plague was released on this planet. I don’t know any more than that, but we believe it was the work of the Dark Ones.”

“That sounds ominous.”

“The meteor that crashed in Threwyn was not a force of nature. It was meant to exterminate Vaanu’s people. The Dark Ones wish to eradicate the universe of them. When the Void were born, the Dark Ones used them as tools to wrought the destruction they desired.”

“Why do they want to hurt Vaanu’s people?”

“That’s...a story for another time.” Natalie shook her head. “Right now it’s imperative we stop them.”

“I’m assuming we have to do this fast because…” Opal trailed off, looking expectant.

Natalie chewed the inside of her cheek. “The Dark Ones are collecting the energy left from the explosion of the Atlas into the Sanctum. Meaning once they have the radiation from those astral charges, they can use it to eliminate Prisallia and other worlds. Tens of worlds. Possibly hundreds.”

“You’ve got to be kidding. The whole point of that was to save people from the Void! Not help them!” Opal threw up her hands.

“The universe is not a fair place.”

“Why doesn’t Vaanu do something?” Cassandra chimed in.

“Vaanu has become sick as well. Hence why their body resides in this pool in stasis, like the others. Vaanu has brought me back so that I can accompany you to find a cure.”

“And once we find it, your people can eliminate the Dark Ones.”

Natalie nodded. “That’s the hope.”

“That doesn’t answer the ‘why us’ of it all,” Opal pointed out.

“It doesn’t. You both have specific characteristics required for this journey.” Natalie stated. 

“That’s not at all vague.” Opal pursed her lips.

“My mind is still a bit muddied after splitting from Vaanu. I’m I have the answer somewhere, and when I...remember, I’ll tell you. Sorry about that.” Natalie grimaced.

“So what’s the cure?” Cassandra asked.

“They require the energy of the zoytocite, a specific crystal. It used to be native to Threwyn but when the meteor hit, the crystals were destroyed.”

“Where can we find these crystals?”

“In the delta quadrant on a planet called Atlantia.”

“Atlantia is a myth.” “Is this the same as Atlantis?” Opal and Cassandra said simultaneously.

“It’s not a myth, and yes it is the same civilization.” Natalie grinned at both of them.

“Wow, I thought this day couldn’t get any more unreal and yet it keeps going.” Opal mused. “The delta quadrant is really far.”

“Yes, we’re going to need a ship with hyperdrive capabilities.”

Opal paled. “We have to go to the space station, don’t we?”

“Space station?” Cassandra looked between the two.

“I don’t know if I want to go back,” Opal muttered, casting her eyes to the ground.

“We don’t have to see anyone you don’t want to,” Natalie said.

Silence.

Then Opal raised her head, the previous anxiety in her eyes gone. “How are we going to get there in the first place?”

“Vaanu can open a portal with the last of their strength.”

Opal nodded and rose from her seat, and Natalie followed suit. Hesitant, Cassandra copied the gesture. She wasn’t ready to go. Not just yet. She still had one question.

“What’s wrong, Cassandra?” Natalie asked, tilting her head to the side.

“Before we go, can I ask...do you know how I can go home? I mean, back to Earth?” Cassandra asked. “I know all of this is happening and I want to help. I don’t mean I want to leave now, I just…” She trailed off, lamely.

“Vaanu can try to send you home right now, but I can’t guarantee you’ll end up on Earth, or even your dimension of Earth because of their lack of strength. However, when we defeat the Dark Ones, Vaanu and the others can together send you home with no issues.”

Cassandra swallowed and nodded. It was enough.

A beam of light shot out from the silver pool into the air a few feet from them. It was like the landscape was being peeled back and between the jagged ridges appeared a dark alleyway.

“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go save the universe.” Opal laughed.

And one by one, they stepped through the portal.


End file.
